LONDON — The math isn't pretty. London has always been expensive. Now with the exchange rate at $1.88 to the pound, the shocker is looking at the price of anything and knowing that it's roughly double that amount in U.S. dollars.

On my $125-a-day budget, $70 dollars for my room and breakfast left me with $55 for everything else. Thankfully, the breakfast was big — cereal, fruit, eggs, ham, toast, coffee and juice — enough to last me through lunch most days.

Head rest

London's cheaper hotels have never been great values. Now with even cramped one-stars charging more than $100 a night, my single with shared bath in Chiswick was a good value at $70 ($100 for two). Book through London Home-to-Home, 011-44-20 8567- 2998 or www.londonhometohome.com). TV, but no elevator or air conditioning.

• Alternate choice: A $75 Priceline bid for a four-star hotel won me a room at the 825-room Copthorne Tara Kensington. The price was $98.88 with taxes for one or two persons, about $50 less than what Expedia and Orbitz quoted and $30 under the hotel's Internet rate.

City tour

An all-day Travelcard good for the Tube and buses is $11.30 ($9 for travel after 9:30 a.m.). Multi-day and family cards available (tube.tfl.gov.uk).

The Riverside bus (RVI) is the ticket to exploring artsy South Bank, London's hottest new area. Catch the bus on Catherine Street near Covent Garden and hop on and off as it crosses the Thames and wends past Royal Festival Hall, the London Eye, Tate Modern, Shakespeare's Globe Theater and the Tower of London. Info at www.crossriverpartnership.org.

Eating like a local

South Bank again, this time Borough Market (www.boroughmarket.org.uk). Take the RVI bus or Tube to London Bridge for a pick-up lunch from the gourmet-food stalls set up on Fridays and Saturdays.

Try one of the foot-long steak sandwiches grilled curbside at Cafe Brood for $7 with salad; the ostrich burgers for $5.75 and the hot mulled wine for $2.25.

You'll eat well at one of London's new gastropubs but the bill for two could be $60 or more. Better deals are old-fashioned neighborhood houses such as the Elephant & Castle, 40 Holland Street in Kensington, where a sign outside warns "no soiled clothing allowed." Snacks and main courses, $6-$13 and wines by the glass for $5.

For a touch of elegance in tourist central: Tea or a meal at St. Martin-in-the-Fields on Trafalgar Square. Dine by candlelight under the stone archways in the crypt cafe. About $15 for a cafeteria-style hot meal, and $2.20 for tea.

Dozens of Balti restaurants line Brick Lane in the gentrifying East End. Walk around a bit, then take the best offer.

A tout lured a friend and me into a place called Chutneys on a chilly Sunday afternoon with the promise of a free drink and a 20 percent discount. It wasn't the best Indian food I've eaten, but as the locals say, you can get filled up and tipsy for a tenner (That's £10, not $10).

Culture stop

The theater of course. Half-price tickets for the best but also the most expensive seats are sold at the Half-Price Ticket Booth on Leicester Square, but in today's dollars, prices average $35 to $40 plus a $4.50 service fee. Try calling or going directly to the theater box office instead for a cheap matinee ticket. Prices start at around $19 for seats in the third balcony.

What's free

• All the top museums, including the British Museum, National Portrait Gallery and Tate Modern.

• Live jazz and world music by some of London's top performers, Wednesdays-Sundays, 12:30 p.m. in the Main Foyer of the Royal Festival Hall (South Bank, near the London Eye (www.rfh.org.uk), and Mondays-Fridays at 6 p.m. and Saturdays at 1 p.m. and 6 p.m. at the National Theatre (www.nt-online.org).

Street smarts

Hit the streets with a guide from Original London Walks. Dozens of two-hour group walks all over London including nighttime pub crawls. $10.50 per walk. See www.walks.com.

Shopping op

Window shop in Harrods' food halls, but do your buying at Sainsbury or Tesco stores for the best prices on edible souvenirs such as Cadbury chocolate and Twinings tea.

Best market: Spitalfields near Brick Lane (Liverpool Street Tube) for organic chocolates and pastries, glass art jewelry, hand-spun wool hats and quirky fashion by some of London's hippest young designers.

Budget splurge

Breakfast in the National Portrait Gallery's rooftop restaurant. Go early for a window table and a "Wow! I'm really in London" view of the Parliament buildings, Big Ben and the London Eye. Poached egg, hash browns and coffee, $11.50. (www.npg.org.uk).

Tourism information: Call 800-462- 2748 or see www.visitbritain.com.